


king of my heart

by still_i_fall



Series: And we rule the kingdom inside my room [1]
Category: The Ever Afters Series - Shelby Bach
Genre: F/M, I promise, also look tswifty song title, am i sorry, and then they fall in love, chase is a prince, litterally pure fluff, no, rory's and actress, this is a royalty au, this is only the start
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 14:11:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15317217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/still_i_fall/pseuds/still_i_fall
Summary: Sometimes, it’s all too much. The camera flash is too bright and the people are too loud and it’s all too much.But then he kisses her, and it’s suddenly all worth it.-or the chase and rory royalty au no one needed





	king of my heart

**Author's Note:**

> _And all at once, you are all I want, I'll never let you go_

  
  


She’s relatively sure that, once upon a time, her father jokingly made her promise to never marry a British man. And that she had laughed and nodded her head with a grin that had probably been photographed by someone nearby and filed away with all of the other pictures of her that had been taken without her permission. 

 

But that was before she’d met Prince Chase Turnleaf.

 

It was at a children’s hospital for a “Make A Wish” type thing where they meet kids who are horribly sick and try their hardest to make everything a little better. 

 

She’s Hollywood’s princess and he’s an actual prince and somehow they’re drawn to one another while they’re there--shy glances in one’s direction and small smiles when eye contact is made-- and when everyone goes out for lunch afterwards.

 

“Chase Turnleaf,” he introduces, holding out his hand.She smiles a greeting-- the smile that’s so heavily featured on her Instagram--and shakes it.

 

“Rory Landon.” Maybe he’s surprised when she introduces herself by her nickname and not Aurora, the name she goes by publicly, but if he is he doesn’t show it.

 

At the lunch they sit next to one another and talk about anything and everything.

 

Hours later, they’re the only ones left in the private room, everyone else having already long gone. They look around awkwardly, grinning slightly, just because they can’t stop.

 

“Dinner?” she offers and he nods.

 

There are cars, black SUV’s already waiting out front for him that are more than happy to give her a ride too. 

 

“You’re going to have to choose the place. I don’t really know any restaurants around here.” she says and he laughs before whispering directions to the driver and pulling out his phone.

 

And somehow he is able to get them a private room at a restaurant so popular that there’s a line out front. 

 

Over dinner, he tells her a bit more about himself, about how he’d grown up in that spotlight and the divorce of his parents and the death of his brother. It’s all a bit much for a normal first date, but this one feels so different.

 

So even though usually all of this would freak Rory out, she takes it in stride and tells him about her life too. About being born Hollywood’s darling, her own parents very public split, her baby sister, and all about her career in acting, an art that she was drawn too even though she’d grown up almost hating it.

 

At the end of the night, he gives her a ride home, and walks her to the door of the house she’s staying at in London for the next couple months as she does reshoots for the movie that brought her out of her pseudo early retirement because of it’s beautiful script and characters. There isn’t much for her to do reshoot wise, so the film is paying for her to stay in London and do just about whatever she wants.

 

“I had a lot of fun tonight,” he says and she nods.

 

“It was really amazing.” She pulls out her phone and offers it to him. “So I can take you out for coffee and make up for the fact that I kept you out so late.”

 

He laughs as he pulls his own phone out and they exchange. 

 

As soon as the door closes behind her, when her coat is hung up and thoughts of his voice,  _ his accent _ , and the day she just had are already in her head, she sees his text.

 

_ Chase: coffee tmr? _

 

She grins.

 

_ Rory: sure _

 

And that’s how it starts.

 

/

 

The entirety of her three months spent in London is spent with him. They go out for coffee practically every other day,  to museums and restaurants. 

 

They’re spotted together pretty early on and there’s a media frenzy that makes it more difficult than it is already for them to go places, and prompts both of her parents to call her.

 

“Aurora Landon are you dating the Prince of Wales?” her mother asks.

 

“Maybe.”

 

“How could you not tell me?” She can hear the betrayal in her mother's voice, but Rory merely rolls her eyes.

 

“It’s brand new, barely a thing.” And while that’s very much true, it’s also very much a lie. It’s been a month at this point and Rory’s not sure if she can even begin to imagine returning to LA and having to live her life without him at her side constantly. 

 

“And you like him?”

 

No hesitation: “Yeah, I like him a lot.” 

 

She almost sure that her mom is smiling on the other side of the phone. “That’s good. And you know exactly what you’re getting into, and everything?”

 

She nods, “Yeah.” That also isn’t the full truth.

 

Her dad is different, though. He wishes her and him the best and says that he’ll need to meet him at some point soon before talking about Dani and Brie like it was any other phone conversation. 

 

It’s sorta what she expected, but still she feels hurt that he seems to care so little about her personal life. 

 

/

 

The three months that she spends in England are three of the best months of her life. She loves every second of it, and even more, every second that she spends with him.

 

She has to go home though, back to LA and away from Chase.

 

“Do you have to leave?” he asks. He’s laying next to her in her bed, facing her on his side, his hand on her face. It’s far too late for them to be in bed, and they don’t have any excuses besides just not wanting to get up.

 

Her lips purse and she stares at him sadly. “I wish I could stay, I really do.”

 

“Why can’t you?” He sounds like a child that’s been given whatever he’s wanted for far too long (which, in a way is probably true).

 

She shakes her head and presses her lips to his and her hands find their way into his hair and they don’t leave her bed that day.

 

She leaves the next morning.

 

/

 

Lena LaMarelle is waiting for on the couch when Rory finally arrives at their apartment.

 

“Welcome home!” she says, jumping up and pulling Rory in for a hug. “How was England?”

 

Rory smiles slyly as she hangs up her coat and pushes her luggage away from the door. “Good…”

 

“Yeah? I heard you met a certain very special British man.”

 

Rory smiles just a the thought of him, “Maybe I did.”

 

Lena rolls his eyes, “Only you would go away to England and come back dating the Prince.”

 

“You have to meet him, Lena. He’s so amazing. And his accent… and his hair, it’s so much more blond in person.”

 

“I’ll have to take your word for it. When are you going to see him again?” 

 

“That’s the thing. I’m, umm, well you know how I have to do publicity for the film and everything in a few months?” Lena nods. “Well after that I was thinking about maybe moving to London, if everything’s going well.”

 

Lena purses her lips, “And you're absolutely sure about this? You've only know him for 3 months.”

 

“Positive.” Only she’s not, not really. She hasn’t even really talked to him about, not seriously at least, and this move would be a huge step in a relationship still in its infancy. 

 

But she misses him so, so much. She misses all of it. 

 

“And the paparazzi, you're not worried about them? You have seen how they treat people entering the royal family and-”

 

Rory nods head with a sort of certainty that's just can't be questioned, “Don't worry Lena, I'll be fine. I grew up in the spotlight.I know how to handle it.”

 

It's silent for a moment as they both think about what to say next.

 

“I'll miss you if you leave.”

 

“I'll miss you too.”

 

/

 

She's not sure exactly how he found out where she lives, but he does and he shows up at her place with flowers and a baseball cap that somehow fooled the paparazzi perpetually outside (but was unable to fool her).

 

“Hey,” he says, waving awkwardly and thrusting the flowers toward her.

 

“Oh my god, Chase! What are you doing here?” she says, grinning from ear to ear as she wraps her arms around his neck and buries herself into him. He's grinning too as he drops the flowers and wraps his own arms around her.

 

“Missed you,” he says into her hair and she laughs.

 

“So you came halfway across the world to see me?” she says shaking her head in disbelief and shock, “How did you even get our address?”

 

They pull apart and Chase takes his bag off and tosses it on the ground. 

 

“Your friend Lena gave it to me. I dmed her on Twitter then I had to FaceTime her to prove I was real but it all worked out.”

 

She laughs again and doesn't question the fact that her best friend is just giving away personal details like that (even if it is to the Prince).

 

And then she's looking up at him and he's laughing too. They haven't stopped touching since he arrived but at this moment they feel way too far apart.

 

So she kisses him.

 

/

 

Lena walks in in them making out on the couch and starts clapping as though her best friend kissing the future king of England is a completely normal thing.“Lena LaMarelle. Nice to meet you.”

 

He grins. “Likewise. Thanks again for giving me the address, though you might want to avoid that in the future for, you know, safety reasons.”

 

“I'll keep that in mind next time a prince asks to know where I live.”

 

Rory looks between the two of them happily as she settles into the couch and up against Chase. “See, didn't I tell you that you have to meet him to get the full experience?”

 

Lena rolls her eyes. “I think he looks better in pictures,” she says. 

 

Chase gasps dramatically. “I look incredible in person.”

 

Lena ignores him. “And his accent’s a little annoying.”

 

He scoffs again, but laughs along with them a moment later as he wraps an arm around Rory.

 

/

 

And maybe it was wishful thinking, but some part of her really did think that maybe, just maybe, the paparazzi just wouldn't find out. That they'd ignore the black SUVs out front and the fact that she's leaving her apartment building with a man that looks suspiciously like Prince Chase in a baseball cap.

 

They do, though, and that's when all hell breaks loose.

 

“Aurora, care to comment on your relationship with the prince?” at least three different people shout.

 

“The baseball cap’s cute!” shout another two as the rest take pictures with the flash so bright it practically blinds her.

 

She shuts her eyes closed and lets Chase pull her along, her head tucked low and out of sight. Oh how badly she just wants it all to go away.

 

It's a wonder they're able to make it to her car at all, seeing as there are so many people in the way, but they do. Then they've gone to a private room in an upscale restaurant in a part of LA where people like them sorta fit in.

 

The food is okay, but the company is great and that's when she realizes how much she really did miss him.

 

/

 

He leaves a week later because he was never really supposed to be there.

 

“I'll visit again soon,” he says as he pulls on the baseball cap-- as though it'll do anything-- and grabs his backpack.

 

“I think it's my turn next time,” she says before pulling him in for a kiss.

 

“Love you,” he says as they break apart and she grins wide.

 

“Love you too.” And then he's gone.

 

/

 

The paparazzi get worse after he leaves. 

 

It becomes nearly impossible for them to go anywhere and the other people in the building are starting to get upset too. Security just can't handle them anymore, so her and Lena rent out the apartment and move to an overly large house in a neighbourhood used to dealing with stuff like this.

 

That doesn't make it any better, though.

 

She can't go out anymore without a camera being pushed toward her face and her picture is everywhere she looks.

 

She should be used to all of this, this was her childhood for crying out loud, but this is a whole new level of crazy. 

 

And it very quickly all becomes too much.

 

It's around the time that Lena’s pulled into the mess as her best friend and that her sister begins to be questioned by paparazzi outside her school that she just breaks.

 

“I can’t do it Chase,” She breathes into the phone, wiping tears off her face and squeezing her eyes shut.

 

She can hear him take a deep breath, “I’m so sorry Rory. You know I wish I could make them stop, you know that.”

 

“They’re stalking my sister!” She cries, desperately wanting to be near him, for him to hold her close and whisper that it’ll all be okay soon. But he’s not, he’s halfway across the world probably up at some ungodly hour just to talk to her.

 

“Come to London, get away from it all. Once they see you’re here they’ll stop and if they don’t we’ll make them. Okay?”

 

She doesn't fully believe but she still books a ticket for the next day.

 

/

 

The palace is even bigger in person.

 

Chase had picked her up from the airport with a smile and a wave with his trusty baseball cap. People really didn't seem to recognize him here, but he did get a few odd glances.

 

“Only tourists wear baseball caps,” he explained and she laughed.

 

“Well you look very American then.”

 

The drive over is nice, filled with British countryside and small naps.

 

“I think you'll like the palace, it's not nearly as drafty as it looks and the foods nice.”

 

She rests her head against his shoulder and closes her eyes, “And quiet?”

 

He laughs, “Very.”

 

And it sorta all didn't really set in for her until she saw it, that incredibly large, incredibly intimidating palace, that she’s dating freaking Prince of England.

 

/

 

She didn’t expect Chase’s mom to be so much like her own. 

 

Ayalla Aspenwind is probably one of the nicest people Rory has ever met. She sweeps Rory into a strong embrace with a wide grin that reminds her so much of Rory.

 

Only the thing is, this woman is the Queen of England. 

 

They all eat dinner together. Chase and Rory eat dinner next to one another, moving place settings over and scooting chairs closer. His mom-- the  _ Queen _ \--laughs at them and Chase turns bright pink and Rory swears she falls even more in love. 

 

The dinner itself is delicious, and Ayalla --who insists Rory never call her Queen Ayalla-- is so funny. She likes to tell stories about Chase’s childhood, the time he threw a tantrum at the white house, or when he ran around the castle naked after his bath while foreign dignitaries were visiting.  

 

They hold hands under the table throughout the entire dinner and that’s when Rory decides that maybe being part of the Royal family wouldn’t be as bad as it seems right now.

 

And that night when Dani calls her to tell her about her day, there’s no mention of paparazzi stalking or awkward pictures on the covers of magazines. So she smiles and laughs at all the right times and has to bid goodnight a little early because it’s crazy late in Great Britain and she needs sleep.

 

Then she goes into his room, his bedroom, the one he’s had since he was little, where he sitting up in the bed reading something on his phone. And it feels so incredibly domestic, like this is her future.

 

And she doesn’t mind it.

 

“You didn’t have to wait up for me.” She says, pulling back the covers and laying down next to him.

 

“Yeah I did.”Chase says rolling his eyes and putting his phone on the table beside his side of the bed. Rory laughs and leans up against him as his arm find its way around her. 

 

It’s 1 in the morning and Rory Landon is somehow falling even more in love with Chase Turnleaf.

 

/

 

And even though it’s still insane and crazy, it’s better when she’s with him. 

 

/

 

She officially moves to England a month later and her and Chase rent an apartment in an area that’s used to people of their status. She makes promises to family and friends to visit often and only cries a little.

 

The media freaks out, though, and headlines reading  _ Rory Landon and Prince Chase Living Together?! _ blanket magazine stands in Britain and the US.

 

She invites her family to come visit once they’re properly moved in to get them away from LA for a little bit. Dani gets so excited when Rory tells her and both her dad and Brie as well as her Mom can’t seem to wait. None of them have properly met Chase yet even though it’s been a little over a year. They’ve talked to him during video calls and been introduced in passing but never a full, in person conversation.

 

And it’s not like it’s going to ruin their relationship if her family decides they don’t like him, they’re way too far in for that, but she can tell that Chase is nervous. 

 

“Don’t worry,” Rory says, rolling her eyes a they wait for everyone to arrive, “They already like you.”

 

“But what if they decide that my dimples aren’t cute and that my accent isn’t endearing?”

 

She laughs, “They’ve already decided that and they still like you.”

 

“What!?” He says, but in a second he’s laughing too and when they arrive and her Dad gives him pat on the back and a thank you for being so good to Rory, she knows he’ll be fine.

 

/

 

“And we conclude our Royal Palace tour with the throne room,” Chase says, gesturing outward towards the throne. Her family claps politely and Rory grins. 

 

There’s a pause as Chase looks around the room, obviously waiting for someone. His mom--  _ the queen _ \-- bursts in, somewhat out of breath, followed by a pack of security guards. 

 

“Hi, hello, so sorry I’m late.” 

 

Both of Rory’s parents seem to be in some sort of state of shock, but her little sister pushes her way forward and holds her hand out to the queen. 

 

“Danica Landon, but you can call me Dani.”

 

And that’s when Rory realises that it’ll all be fine. 

 

/

 

Chase Turnleaf asks her to marry him after they’d been dating for over three years. 

 

He’d planned this overly large, elaborate proposal only to propose instead on one of their lazy days at home when Rory’s still in her pajamas making pancakes. 

 

“Rory Landon, do you want to marry me?” He asks, and she turns toward him with a disbelieving smile.

 

“Marry you?” She repeats thinking that he’s joking, only saying it because she’s making pancakes, so she rolls his eyes. But then he nods, pulls the ring box out of a cabinet and suddenly her eyes are wide, “Yes, of course!” He closes the space between them, pushes the ring onto her finger, and kisses her until neither of them can breathe.

 

The pancakes burn. No one cares.

 

/

 

The wedding, though, is big and elaborate and Rory hates it. 

 

Ever since they’d been spotted out in public with the ring, since the instagram posts and interviews, everyone has been expecting this overly large event.

 

It has to be, he’s the lone son of the Queen, next in line for the crown. 

 

Rory knows this, she understands why they can’t just elope or hold a small ceremony only for their closest friends and family. 

 

That doesn’t mean she still can’t hate it. 

 

But on the day of, when she walks down the aisle in a dress that’s like a dream, staring at her fiance, almost husband who’s smiling so wide it must hurt, it all becomes worth it. 

 

She holds his hand tight and nothing else matters. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> okay, so this was supposed to be posted a long long time ago around when the royal wedding took place but im a mess so this is just now happening and im sorry
> 
> big thanks to may v for all of her help with the editing of this thing. it's so so much better because of her and i don't know what i would have done without her a-may-zing (get what i did there) input
> 
> title and beginning quote thing from from Taylor Swifts King of My Heart


End file.
